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The aim is to boost the self-esteem of the women involved by bringing a touch of glamour to their lives.

While the contestants are certainly encouraged to look their best in sparkling ballgowns, officials say the event is meant to celebrate inner beauty as well.

Joy: Ms Koka blows a kiss at the crowd as she is handed an award during the ceremony

Champion: 93-year-old Shoshana Colmer, who is tattooed with an identity number from Auschwitz, was crowned the overall winner of the event

Last minute: One contestant touches up her lipstick as she prepares to go on stage with the others

Many of the women are now fairly infirm, and have little opportunity to dress up at formal events.In the run-up to the event, the 16 finalists were given the use of make-up artists and hairdressers.

The winner of this year's pageant was Shoshana Colmer, 93, who was brought up in Czechoslovakia before being imprisoned in Auschwitz.

She still bears the identity number which was branded on her skin by the Nazis, and during the contest she told a story about how she would sing for a guard in order to secure extra rations of bread.

Since moving to Israel, she has not always been free of troubles - in 2006, her house near the border with Lebanon was destroyed by a rocket fired by jihadist group Hezbollah.

All-important: Ayala Situsi has her hair done before the start of the pageant in Haifa

Changing room: The women were provided with make-up artists to keep them looking their best

Anticipation: Ms Situsi, 75, waits patiently before the start of the pageant

While the women involved seemed delighted to have been invited to the pageant, not everyone is so positive.

Critics claim the pageant exploits vulnerable elderly people by putting them on show for entertainment.

'I'm not sure I'm happy with this beauty pageant because pageants objectify women and also because there is a sensational dimension,' Dalia Sivan, of Holocaust survivors' charity of Amcha, told USA Today. 'The survivors' suffering is on display in a very public way.'